Person:Martha Ward (31)

Martha Ward was born around 1821 at Great Hale in Lincolnshire, daughter of Ann Ward, formerly Allam, and her husband Luke Ward, a carpenter. No birth or baptism record has been found for Martha - the family were Baptists, with Martha's maternal grandfather John Allam being deacon of the Baptist chapel at nearby Heckington. John Allam died in 1841, leaving Martha a house at Great Hale.

Martha's father died in 1844.

On 27th May 1847, Martha married a farmer called William Vessey, who was from South Kyme, about six miles north of Great Hale. They married at Great Hale, but settled at South Kyme after their marriage.

Martha and William had one daughter, Mary Ann, in 1848. Sadly she died in 1852, aged four years old. They do not appear to have had any other children.

The 1851 and 1861 censuses find Martha and William living at South Kyme with William working as a farmer. On census night in 1871 Martha was visiting her sister Ann at Leadenham. Martha was back at South Kyme with William in the 1881 census, along with two servants.

William died in 1882, aged 73.

After his death Martha moved to Quarrington, on the edge of the nearby town of Sleaford. She was married at Quarrington on 7th June 1884 to a miller and baker called Henry Thompson, whose first wife had died in 1881. Henry had lived in South Kyme for most of his adult life. Martha and Henry were only married for just over two years, until his death in 1886 at South Kyme.

Martha returned to live in Sleaford. The 1891 census finds her living at 13 New Street with a Baptist minister and his wife. In 1901 she was living at 3 Grantham Road in the part of the town which fell within Quarrington parish, along with one servant.

Martha died in the Quarrington area of Sleaford on 28th April 1901. She was said to be 79 years old. She was buried back at South Kyme, with her burial record noting that she was "a Baptist who formerly lived in South Kyme". She left a will, with her two executors being Tom Newton, who was Martha's sister Elizabeth's daughter Ann's husband, and Samuel Taylor Coulson, who was Martha's sister Elizabeth's granddaughter Elizabeth Ann Cox's husband.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 2101; Folio 140; Page 16, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: South Kyme, Lincolnshire
   William Vessey, head, married, male, 41 [1809/10], Farmer of 41 acres one Labourer, b. South Kyme, Lincolnshire
   Martha Vessey, wife, married, female, 30 [1820/1], b. Great Hale, Lincolnshire
   Mary Anne Vessey, daughter, female, 3 [1847/8], b. South Kyme, Lincolnshire
   William Wilson, visitor, unmarried, male, 18 [1832/3], Labourer indoors, b. Frampton, Lincolnshire

2. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 2345; Folio 6; Page 6, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Private House, South Kyme, Lincolnshire
   William Vessey, head, married, male, 52 [1808/9], Farmer of 68 Acres employing 1 labourer, b. South Kyme, Lincolnshire
   Martha Vessey, wife, married, female, 39 [1821/2], b. Hale Magna, Lincolnshire
   Isaac Watson, servant, unmarried, male, 20 [1840/1], Carter, b. Asgarby, Lincolnshire
   Eliza Clay, servant, unmarried, female, 16 [1844/5], House Servant, b. Heckington, Lincolnshire

3. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 3351; Folio 13; Page 4, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: The Village, Leadenham, Lincolnshire
   William Everitt, head, married, male, 51 [1819/20], Carpenter, b. Leadenham, Lincolnshire
   Ann Everitt, wife, married, female, 56 [1814/5], b. Great Hale, Lincolnshire
   Martha Vessey, sister in law, married, female, 49 [1821/2], Farmer's wife (visitor), b. Great Hale, Lincolnshire

4. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 3225; Folio 12; Page 18, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Cow Drove, South Kyme, Lincolnshire
   William Vessey, head, married, male, 72 [1808/9], Farmer 68 acres, b. South Kyme, Lincolnshire
   Martha Vessey, wife, married, female, 59 [1821/2], b. Great Hale, Lincolnshire
   Samuel Upton, servant, unmarried, male, 36 [1844/5], Farm Serv[ant] Indoor, b. Digby, Lincolnshire
   Martha Hodgeson, servant, unmarried, female, 25 [1855/6], General Serv[an]t {Domes[tic]), b. Sleaford, Lincolnshire

5. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 2578; Folio 17; Page 26, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 13 New Street, Old Sleaford (Civil Parish), New Sleaford (Urban Sanitary District), Lincolnshire
   Mark Adams, head, married, male, 60 [1830/1], Baptist Minister, b. Tring, Hertfordshire
   Mary Adams, wife, married, female, 69 [1821/2], b. Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
   Martha Thompson, lodger, widow, female, 69 [1821/2], Living on her own means, b. Hale Magna, Lincolnshire

6. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 3049; Folio 33; Page 28, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 3 Grantham Road, Quarrington (Civil Parish), Sleaford (Urban District), Lincolnshire
   Martha Thompson, head, widow, female, 79 [1821/2], Living on own means, b. Great Hale, Lincolnshire
   Mary Collishaw, servant, married, female, 55 [1845/6], Servant domestic, b. Leadenham, Lincolnshire

7. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Martha THOMPSON, June Quarter 1901, Sleaford Registration District, Volume 7a, page 260, aged 79 [1821/2]

8. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of South Kyme (Lincolnshire). Parish registers, 1654-1964. (Lincoln: Lincolnshire Archives).

   BURIALS in the Parishes of South & North Kyme in the County of Lincoln in the Year 1901
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   596	Martha Thompson	Quarrington	May 3 1901	79 years	Interred under the Burial Laws Amendment Act of 1880 W. Cousins, Baptist Minister A Baptist who formerly lived in S[outh] K[yme]

9. ↑ Stamford Mercury, in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
   Page 4, 3 May 1901.

   Deaths.
   QUARRINGTON.-April 28, Martha Thompson, 79.

10. ↑ England. National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1858 onwards. (Ancestry.com).

    1901
    THOMPSON Martha of Quarrington Lincolnshire widow died 28 April 1901 Probate London 8 June to Tom Newton threshing-machine proprietor and Samuel Taylor Coulson brewer Effects £3419 9s. 3d.